Theoretical Determination of the Differential Polarizability and Anisotropy of Alkaline Earth Oxide Nanoclusters (BeO)n [n=2-9]: The Basis Set and Electron Correlation Effects

As an important lineage of metal oxides, alkaline earth oxides have attracted significant interest due to their unique properties and potential applications in material science and industry. In this article, we present the first ab initio (HF, MP2, and CCSD(T)) and density functional theory (TPSSh functional) investigation on the optical properties such as polarizabilities per atom (PPA), differential polarizability per unit (DPPU), and anisotropies of (BeO)(n) [n = 2-9] nanoclusters as an illustrative example of alkaline earth oxides nanostructures. Basis set augmentation effects on the studied properties of BeO nanoclusters have been explored by using basis sets of triple-zeta quality starting from 6-311G with increasing completeness of the diffuse and polarization functions to the 6-311+G(3df) basis. Checking carefully the basis set effects, it is shown that the 6-311+G(3d) basis set provides the best compromise between the accuracy and computational cost. We found a decreasing trend for PPA values of BeO nanoclusters using all considered methods, indicating the strong electron delocalization with increasing cluster size. Moreover, in accordance with the energetic analysis of stability of BeO nanoclusters, the values of PPA show that the (BeO)(4) and (BeO)(6) clusters are the most stable magic numbers compared to the neighbors, satisfying the minimum polarizability principle. The computed values of DPPU demonstrate a strong binding effect in BeO nanoclusters. Taking into account the electron correlation correction (ECC), it is observed that the variations of ECC on dipole polarizabilities are almost smooth for clusters under study. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.